The ongoing legal battle between Virginia Attorney General and University alumnus Ken Cuccinelli and the University about the release of documents related to climate change research is currently on hold, as both parties wait for the state Supreme Court to set a hearing date. The case will not be heard until next year, The Virginian Pilot reported Tuesday.
Early last year, Cuccinelli filed a civil investigative demand requesting emails, research documents and other files relating to former University Environmental Sciences Prof. Michael Mann's climate change research. Cuccinelli suspected Mann had used falsified data to apply for state and federal grants.
The University refused to supply the documents on legal grounds, and an Albemarle County court ruled in its favor in August 2010.
Although numerous independent assessments have cleared Mann of any wrongdoing, Cuccinelli appealed the court's decision to the high court.
Both the University and the attorney general's office have filed briefs with the high court, and are currently "waiting for a hearing date" to be set, Cuccinelli spokesperson Caroline Gibson said in an email.
"We really have no way of knowing when the hearing will be scheduled," Gibson said in an email.
Mann declined to comment, and University administrators could not be reached for comment.
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